I am doing a senior project to finish my degree in mech eng. and was wondering if you could change anything to your ascenders or have any ideas, i would be happy to try to incorporate and discuss ideas.

Does anyone really like the BD nforce ascender design? With the four bar mechanism moving in and busting your nuckles? Does it really do any good?

My personal opinion is that the petzl ascenders are the standard. Simple and straight forward.

vanilla gorilla, Invent something that spreads out the load on the rope to avoid rope damage. Way too many accidents where the ascender has "sheathed" the rope. See the thread on the Death on Touchstone/Zion for a recent tragedy and analysis. The idea has been looked at but nobody has made one which is easy to put on and take off the rope.. One handed.

The one idea that's out there--perhaps it's the Wayne Industries patent--attaches to the rope in the way a Gibbs or the WC Ropeman does. You have to take it apart to get it on. Useless for recreational wall climbing. Neither the Gibbs or the Ropeman spread the load though. Mal

The one idea that's out there--perhaps it's the Wayne Industries patent--attaches to the rope in the way a Gibbs or the WC Ropeman does. You have to take it apart to get it on. Useless for recreational wall climbing. Neither the Gibbs or the Ropeman spread the load though. Mal

Hi Mal...don't intend to start a war, but calling a Gibbs "useless" for rec. wall climbing is a little disingenuous. They have been, and still are used. I'd like to see somebody mount a handle to a Gibbs, for ease. But really, prussiks have been used since the early days, and Gibbs are a bit faster than those.

My personal experience is, the horizontal teeth on a Gibbs cam cause less rope damage, which (I believe) has been objectively shown to be true in drop tests. They are also superior on icy ropes.

The one idea that's out there--perhaps it's the Wayne Industries patent--attaches to the rope in the way a Gibbs or the WC Ropeman does. You have to take it apart to get it on. Useless for recreational wall climbing. Neither the Gibbs or the Ropeman spread the load though. Mal